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Kristian Nebula

Ultra-Nightmare thoughts

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I've got to say that Ultra-Nightmare on DOOM Eternal is extremely satisfying. I managed to get to Nekravol part 2 on my fourth run, all others ended in Cultist Base. 

I was confident I'd make it through because I was about to BFG the Archvile before the Marauder teleports into the last room before taking the lift up and the game crashed...

Luckily it didn't kill my progress, and it loaded the game from checkpoint. (Not sure if this existed in 2016, I have a vague memory of having the game crash in it and going back to beginning). The crash anyhow was enough to throw me off guard and the Marauder got me, oh lol. :D Anyway, now I know it's possible to get so far with focus and skill.

 

My favourite weapons of choice are SSG, Ballista, Rocket Launcher with Lock-On mod which does away quickly with those dangerous whiplashes. The game becomes much easier once you get yourself upgraded a bit. I find the first three levels most challenging to do. I learned that grenades are very valuable tools besides the ice bomb in crowd control, and the Minigun Shield mod is also very handy stuff! Memorizing monster spawns also helps on the way.

 

What do you think about Ultra-Nightmare and have you tried it yet? :)

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21 minutes ago, Kristian Nebula said:

What do you think about Ultra-Nightmare and have you tried it yet? :)

I don't have big enough balls for it.

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Tried it once and died on Super Gore Nest from that first buff totem.  May try it again if I can manage a nightmare game without dying first.

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The big grind is definitely the first 3 levels. The first few weapons don't have a fast enough TTK to engage the arena hordes directly, you're squishy and will get conceivably 2 shot by any enemy in the game if you fuck up, and the power progression is slower compared to the rest of the game.

 

It becomes a lot less scary once you get past Cultist Base. At that point in the game you have the Super Shotgun (get the flaming hook ASAP), the rocket launcher, some crystals, some runes, and suit tokens (invest everything you get into the icebomb and fundamentals, ASAP),  you can power through the rest of the game pretty safe as long as you are cautious of course and and know how the arenas will play out. Ballista, lock on burst, and SSG combos trivialize most enemies in the game but of course playstyle may very.

 

Gladiator has been my end runner though, his attacks aren't that consistent. When he shoots those lines of energy you need to jump over, you can meathook over him and he'll cancel the attack and just charge underneath you. That tip helped me a lot.

Edited by oCrapaCreeper

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Yeah, the Gladiator is an achilles heel for sure. I did actually practise him on Nightmare long enough until I was sure not to lose a single life while fighting it but while facing it on UN I still put on the rune which prevents you from dying once and it was indeed necessary because he managed to surprise me twice on the 2nd round. Man did I become busy to hunt down the single gargoyle running free in the arena after that when the screen turned gray :D

 

Now I'm back to Doom Hunter Base, the worst is behind me so time to see if I can pull the whole thing off this time! :)

 

EDIT. Found a nice "glitch" at the Cultist Base where you meet the Whiplashes for the first time. I killed the first one but got stuck with some shielded soldiers and lost quite a bit of health there but managed to get out of the situation. I knew I'd be dead if I stayed there so I ran back to the place where you get the rocket launcher because it had one health pack left. After picking it up, I climbed back up to where you go to get the rune and onto the ledge which drops you to the arena with the Whiplashes. The remaining two of them were just hanging out there, waiting for me with a couple of soldiers trying to shoot me when I was up there. I shot the soldiers with the sniper mod, and watched the whiplashes just stand still and wait for me to come down. I was about to... but then they just died off and the fight cleared up and I was able to go forward. I wonder why the AI decided to do so? :D 

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Beat it today on Nightmare. And that will be my default difficulty from now on. I still need to get a lot better before trying it on UN. My God. .Doom 2016 on UN seems like a walk in the park compared to Eternal. 

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2 hours ago, Enforcer said:

Beat it today on Nightmare. And that will be my default difficulty from now on. I still need to get a lot better before trying it on UN. My God. .Doom 2016 on UN seems like a walk in the park compared to Eternal. 

 

Yeah, I felt the same after beating it on Nightmare. Did two Extra Life Mode runs between trying UN the first time, and died less than 5 times in the 2nd one so felt confident to try.. It's beatable, but definitely a whole different ball game when compared to 2016. It really feels like a walk in the park as you said it compared to Doom Eternal :D

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On 4/29/2020 at 9:56 PM, Kristian Nebula said:

I shot the soldiers with the sniper mod, and watched the whiplashes just stand still and wait for me to come down. I was about to... but then they just died off and the fight cleared up and I was able to go forward. I wonder why the AI decided to do so? :D 

I experienced similar situations. After I was out of sight enemies just hang around and did nothing. It just happens occasionally, I was never able to reproduce it. 

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I like Ultra-Nightmare, even if it doesn't like me.

Spoiler

Run 1: ended Exultia
Run 2: ended Hell on Earth

Run 3: ended Hell on Earth

Run 4: ended Super Gore Nest

Run 5: ended Hell on Earth

Run 6: ended Exultia

Run 7: ended Exuitla

Run 8: currently on Cultist Base

 

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I recently beat the game on Ultra-Nightmare! I recorded the gameplay so I hope it's alright to share it here:

 

 

Took many attempts altogether, didn't count them but I started trying on April 23rd, so it took about 10 days (finished May 2). The final attempt took over two sessions: the first finished up to ARC Complex, then the second finished the rest. I forgot to record before selecting Ultra-Nightmare, but you'll see a grave marker on Gladiator (2:41:20) and you'll see me equipping the Gold skin at the end, as proof. I also inadvertently deleted the save file when I entered the Fortress of Doom after Final Sin, but that's no big deal I suppose. The video itself seems to have audio desynced during the second session portions, which kind of sucks. I also didn't edit out any of my random pauses, mostly out of laziness and I wanted to leave the video as is mostly.

 

Overall, Eternal's Ultra-Nightmare is much more challenging than Doom 2016's Ultra-Nightmare. A lot of the "cheese" tactics are gone: Hologram Decoy, Siege Mode, Stun Bomb, etc. There are some things to make up for it: Ice Bomb, more mobility options, more resource generation, etc. I didn't do a 100% clear, you'll see me skipping a few fights on Hell on Earth, Taras Nabad and Nekroval II. My previous best attempt before this was on the Gladiator boss fight. Most of my deaths were on the first three levels, especially Cultist Base. Many tactics throughout the campaign I learned from watching speedruns of ZeroMaster and DraQu.

 

Weapons: Sticky Bombs were useful in the earlier levels but I seldom used it later on. I used Full-Auto for dealing with Arachnotrons before acquiring the Lock-On Burst. Scope is almost mandatory just for removing weak spots in the early game (I struggle with doing quick scopes though). Never used the Micro-Missiles. Heat Blast is a decent alternative to using Full Auto. Never used Micro-Wave Beam. Lock-On Burst is crazy strong, especially combined with upgraded Ice Bombs. Never used Remote Detonation, which is strange to me because I depended so much on it in 2016. Super Shotgun's Meat Hook is extremely versatile and a really good tool for sudden healing - I fully upgraded it by cheesing the first Doom Hunter Base arena fight (where you meet the Pinky). I kept the Pinky alive and farmed the Fodder demons until I unlocked the Meat Hook. Ballista on its own is a very strong burst finisher. I used Arbalest sometimes for Cacodemons or Pain Elementals, but never used the Destroyer Blade. I hardly used the Chaingun - I couldn't decide between Mobile Turret or Energy Shield, though I ended up using the former on the second Doom Hunter in Nekroval when Ice Bomb was on cooldown. Tried to use BFG often and on tough fights, I think I attempted to do the distract-BFG shot on a Marauder at one point but it didn't work out. Didn't unlock the Unmakyr. Reserved Crucible mostly for Super Demons. I used Frag Grenades mostly in the first few levels then never again. I tried to use Flame Belch as much as I could. Ice Bomb is really strong, especially when taking the extra-damage upgrade. Blood Punch got used sometimes to make distance, but mostly used for Doom Hunters and Cyber-Mancubi. Saved Chainsaw for Arachnotrons in the earlier levels. Once I unlocked the Rocket Launcher, I didn't play safe with the Chainsaw.

 

Enemies: Getting hit by Zombies is quite tilting. Imps and Soldiers don't seem as dangerous as their 2016 counterparts. Pinkies can be annoying when they decide to keep turning. The Cacodemon's volley belch attack is very strong. Revenants aren't threatening, just like in 2016. Mancubi are much more threatening. Cyber-Mancubi can be removed quickly with Ice Bomb -> Blood Punch -> SSG/Ballista. Hell Knights are only scary early-game before Dash or Lock-On Burst. Barons seem tougher to deal with this time around, probably because of the lack of Siege Mode. Memorizing Tentacle and Buff Totem locations is pretty important. Maykr Drones are tough to deal with, I had about 4 health at one point against a group of them. Gargoyles and Pain Elementals aren't too crazy. Carcass shields and their shockwave attacks can be deadly - but they don't have much health to stand a well-placed SSG shot. Whiplashes are most deadliest before you unlock Lock-On Burst, use it on them at every other opportunity. Dread Knights are Hell Knights that require a bit more distance to maintain but they aren't challenging otherwise. Archviles should be killed as soon as possible using upgraded Ice Bombs -> two Lock-On Bursts kills them quick. Tyrants take a lot to go down but they aren't difficult otherwise, I usually reserve Crucible for them. Doom Hunter is most tough on the boss fight (I had to use Saving Throw on it actually), but otherwise Ice Bomb combo deals with them good. Gladiator was much harder than I thought, died once on a previous attempt. Khan Maykr is trivially easy when you realize two Lock-On Bursts + Ballista is enough to stagger her for the Blood Punch. Hardest part of that fight is head-shotting Maykr Drones for more ammo. Icon of Sin took a long time for me because I was too scared to make a risky play, otherwise I don't think he was too difficult. Just don't get overwhelmed.

 

Levels: Hell on Earth can be really challenging - so knowing the fights and spawns is really important. I saved Chainsaw fuel for the Arachnotrons. Exultia can be pretty tough too, it can be easy to screw this one up but again, knowing the spawns help a lot. A well-timed Quad Damage at the final arena trivializes most of that fight's challenge. Cultist Base is the hardest level in my opinion, mostly because of the Rocket Launcher fight and the first Whiplash fight. It's very easy to get cornered and killed quick. Once you unlock and upgrade the Lock-On Burst, things get a bit easier. The room with enemies inside of boxes can be a bit tricky too if you're not too careful. Doom Hunter Base isn't too tough for the most part - you can use the first arena fight to master the SSG. The hardest part is the Doom Hunter boss fight. Really need to practice distance management, his rockets hit hard. Super Gore Nest is quite a bit easier (for the most part) compared to the earlier levels. With the newly-acquired Ballista, along with an upgraded SSG and Rocket Launcher, you should be tearing through the enemies quick. ARC Complex can feel like an overwhelming level, but your tools should be able to handle most fights. Be prepared for the purple goo sections. Practice your Marauder strats so you can kill him quick - you don't want to dance around with him in Ultra-Nightmare. Mars Core is not too difficult. Well-timed BFG shots can trivialize some of the harder arena fights here. Now's the time to do the Ice Bomb combo to quickly rid of Doom Hunters. Sentinel Prime is a bit harder than I thought, the Gladiator hits hard and fast on his second phase. Try to rid of the spawned fodders as soon as possible, except Zombies for ammo. Taras Nabad is also another intimidating level, I ended up skipping one or two fights just to stay on the safer side of things. The Archvile encounter can be quickly finished by doing an Ice Bomb -> Lock-On combo on him as soon as he spawns. The other fights can be handled with well-timed BFGs. Nekroval starts off fairly straightforward - Kalibas always throws me off though. You can use the Meat Hook to quickly access the Buff Totem in one of the later arena fights. A well-timed BFG is really useful in the final arena fight - you'll need to then Ice Bomb combo one Doom Hunter followed by taking out the other Doom Hunter the standard way (I used a Chaingun to finish his first phase). Nekroval Part II can be tricky at parts, some of the fights get really intense. You'll want to rid Archviles, Barons, Doom Hunters, and Tyrants as soon as they spawn. Be sure to respect Marauders, I lost my confidence fighting them and didn't try to go for any fancy shortcuts to kill them. Urdak is pretty difficult, I thought I was going to die at one arena fight (I had four health left against a group of Maykr Drones!). The Khan Maykr herself is fairly easy though, just need to keep ammo topped and spam Lock-On on her. Final Sin can also be tough since there are so many high-level enemies they throw at you - use BFG and Crucible liberally. My Crucible bugged for a moment at 4:15:10, which was pretty scary to have happen at that moment! The Icon of Sin was definitely intimidating and I played it really safe, so killing him took a while longer than usual.

 

Upgrades: For weapons, I was saving points until Lock-On Burst -> SSG -> Arbalest -> Chaingun. I hardly used Combat Shotgun, Heavy Cannon, or Plasma Rifle in the later levels, so I didn't feel the need to upgrade them. The SSG mastery is the most important - an on-demand armor gain is incredibly useful and can be life-saving in some fights. For Praetor Suit, I upgraded Fundamentals first, then Ice Bomb, then Frag Grenade, then Environmental. You don't need Area Scanning (or whatever it's called), you should know where all the secrets and hidden upgrades are if you're attempting Ultra-Nightmare. For Runes, I took Aerial Mobility, Further Glory Kills, and Speed Boost after Glory Kills (I took Saving Throw early on and ended up using it on the Doom Hunter boss fight actually). I reserve the third Rune unlock for Saving Throw since at that point, I have a decent run (and avoid wasting Saving Throw in an earlier level on a "bad" run). For Sentinel Crystals, I upgraded Vacuum (it's a lifesaver) first, then upgraded health solely -> then into armor -> then into ammo (I missed a Sentinel Crystal at Nekroval Part II I think, which kind of sucked). Picking Ammo refreshes your ammo reserves, so a well-timed selection near the later levels can give you more BFG / Chainsaw uses too, so keep that in mind. Don't forget to pick up upgrades at the Fortress in between your missions (I went for Sentinel Crystals first, then Praetor Tokens, then Weapon Mods).

 

Overall, knowing what spawns where in arena fights, mastering the quick-swapping trinity of Rocket Launcher Lock-On Burst, Meat Hook SSG, and Ballista Arbalest, knowing the locations of all the upgrades, and using all your tools as much as possible (Dashes, Flame Belch, Ice Bomb, etc.) are all really important skills to learn. Most of the difficulty comes in the first four levels, so knowing them inside and out is best. It's also really helpful to watch video gameplay of someone else playing at Ultra-Nightmare (like a speedrunner), you learn a lot of strategies and techniques you might've not known about. If you can reach Super Gore Nest, you're good enough to get through the rest of the campaign - just stay focused and not get careless. You have enough firepower at that point to completely rid of most demons as soon as they appear, so use that to your advantage. Extra-Life Mode on Nightmare is a good way to practice for Ultra-Nightmare too - there are consequences for dying but not as harsh.

 

Anyways, that was my experience and thoughts on Ultra-Nightmare. Hope somebody finds them helpful and informative.

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Wow, that is a very nice review of your run! I also completed the UN campaign literally 15 minutes ago. I got almost killed in the first Marauder of Final Sin, luckily had the Saving Throw still available in that moment and had put it on as a precaution. It kept spawning the wolf all the time and for some reason I was unable to get proper hits to it so that fight went completely mad! :D

 

The 1st part of Icon of Sin was very quick and easy as I was able to save two extra BFG shots from the map. 2nd round was much more difficult but I managed it still quite quickly. I've completed the campaign on Nightmare many times to notice that there is some random difficulty trigger in the IoS which makes it sometimes much easier than other times. This time it was much more hectic (the 2nd round). 

Khan Maykr was very easy, I do precision shot / ballista / Lock-on combo on it and BFG once as well.

Gladiator also goes down within a few minutes with SSG on the first round and Lock-on rockets + chaingun shield mod / ballista / SSG switching on the 2nd round.

 

Now I'm also literally pushing sweat after the Final Sin, it was quite intense indeed! :D 

Good luck for any UN attempts!

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4 minutes ago, SulfurOccult said:

Damn I've probably got about a dozen attempts and never gotten any further than the last fight in Exultia.

 

There are five Heavies in that fight: Arachnotron -> Revenant -> Hell Knight -> Cacodemon -> Arachnotron

 

Taking the Quad Damage at the start and knowing where the Heavies spawn lets you take them out as soon as they appear. You can then finish off the last Arachnotron with the Chainsaw. You can guarantee full Chainsaw by taking the Ammo upgrade at the Sentinel Crystal in the Hell portion of Exultia - it refills your ammo reserves (including chainsaw fuel) when you do so. After killing the Heavies, the rest of the fodder can be handled mostly well, just be sure to drop grenades and use flame belch liberally.

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7 hours ago, SulfurOccult said:

Damn I've probably got about a dozen attempts and never gotten any further than the last fight in Exultia.

 

The Arachnotron will spawn near the teleporter, on the small raised ledge. You can get to it quickly by teleporting there right away when arriving to the arena. Then Revenant arrives down the stairs and Hell Knight somewhere near the teleporter where you first landed. Going in circles is a good idea and exploiting teleporters. Also, create a reflex for chainsaw / flame belch / grenade fill-up sounds to know when they are full without watching. Don't mind the fodder, focus on the heavies and get the soldiers and gargoyles first when they appear in your way. Grenades are great for crowd control!

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Welp, it pretty much appears that I very much suck at UNM and I won't be seeing that gold skin for a very long time.

 

I mean, it seems like I end up hitting a brick wall in Exultia, and that's if I'm lucky (the furthest I've gone is that one arena fight that takes place after those huge gates and that was extremely lucky). It's gotten to the point where I am seriously starting to dread taking on Cultist Base because I keep hearing that's the absolute zenith of the difficulty.

 

Whenever I try it, I end up with one or two outcomes:

1. I end up getting dinged by a Soldier, an Imp, or especially a Gargoyle and I just keel over as a result.

2. A heavy-type demon like a Hell Knight, a Cacodemon, a Revenant, or especially ESPECIALLY an Arachnotron ends up running a train on me and I end up getting Worldstar'd.


And it's not like I've just been running head-on into it either; I've practiced on Nightmare, I watched guides, I took advice from others and it honestly feels like I'm getting worse at it. Hell, I can't even get past the halfway point at Hell on Earth anymore in more recent runs because it appears that Arachnotrons are the absolute bane of my existence.

 

Anywho, it just feels like I'll be permanently stuck with the "mediocre at Doom Eternal" title.

 

EDIT: I pretty much wrote this just to kind of vent my feelings since I’ve already been going at it for about 2 weeks and no success. 

Edited by Man of Doom

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@Man of Doom My first two weeks felt a lot like that and I was stuck at Exultia too. I still haven't beat UNM, but having stayed persistent throughout all the self disappointment, frustration, and taking days off I've built up more skills, confidence, and level knowledge that take me further through the game. The process itself has been good since I started getting some rewarding feelings out of it and I've decided focusing on that is going to be way more important over just beating the game on Ultra Nightmare. The mental aspect of it is pretty big and it's clear to me now why the achievement is called "Escaped the madness".

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On 6/4/2020 at 8:55 AM, Man of Doom said:

Arachnotrons are the absolute bane of my existence.

 

I spared my chainsaw for the first two in Hell on Earth, and also try to save it for them in Exultia too. :) I took care in upgrading the sticky bomb explosion size asap I got 6 weapon upgrade points (didn't do any weapon upgrades before that), that makes dealing with them a lot more manageable. Also if you have the heat blast mod for plasma rifle, it will dismantle their mounted cannons in the same way as the precision shot, but in close range. And autoshotgun mode will deal with them quickly too, just the swapping in right moments can be a bit hectic. :)

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I'm bad at this game so for now I'm on a practice NM run with limited lives, just to have some form of punishment if manage to fuck up royally. Died once near the very beginning because I had already forgotten what that encounter was like, so the caco got a nice meaty bite out of my ass. So far it doesn't seem that bad especially when compared to 2016's NM, where I got immediately dumpstered in the very first arena and went "nah, screw this". Some lives will be lost today for sure, since it's Cultist Base time

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Due to many reasons beyond my control I had to tackle CB as late as today. Managed to get through without dying once, but holy shit that Mancubus pit and Slayer Gate can eat a bag of dicks. And then there's this. I really feel like screaming.

20200609000713_1.jpg

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I bought a new PC so when i grow back these lost keyboard skills maybe i'll try. Been playing on PS4 till now and the joysticks are a pain to take quick aims.

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I had many attempts and they usually got ended on Urdak by the boss but eventually I punched that bitch to oblivion and I managed to beat the icon of sin first try. The gold skin looks disgusting, I was just satisfied that my journey was complete and not that I got some shitty skin.

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I'm a god at Nightmare with all weapons and upgrades.

But Ultra-Nightmare on the first level...*tears of salt flowing

 

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2 hours ago, franrc124 said:

i did UN and i'm salty that i didn't get an achievement for it. 3 days perfecting the strategy and nothing but a gold skin.

 

There's an in-game achievement/milestone called "Escaping the Madness" that is earned when completing Ultra-Nightmare.

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19 hours ago, AtimZarr1 said:

 

There's an in-game achievement/milestone called "Escaping the Madness" that is earned when completing Ultra-Nightmare.

it's not a steam achievment though

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I fucking did it! Took me 9 evenings but what a ride. .Fuck. .my hands are still shaking. .didn't complete any slayer gates though. Got extremele lucky on the Gladiator and Khan fights. BFG saved my ass a bunch of times. The hardest thing for me was to overcome the fear that if I die I will have to do it all over again and that I wasted a bunch of time on nothing. It makes you panic and make mistakes. 

20200723_145512.jpg

20200723_145746.jpg

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